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Most actors in a single role

S

Stanislav

Many times in TV history, the same role has been played by more than one actor over the course of a series. This is commonplace in the soap opera world, but less so in prime-time. Discussing Petticoat Junction made me think -- how many cases are there of a single major prime-time character (stars or immediate supporting cast) being portrayed by three or more actors over the course of a single series? (PJ obviously qualifies, with the role of Billie Jo Bradley being played, chronologically, by Jeannine Riley, Gunilla Hutton, and Meredith MacRae.)

Guidelines: prime-time only; U.S. only (no Doctor Who); pilots, whether actual or "backdoor," don't count; neither do spin-offs or revivals; each actor must have played the role in multiple episodes of the same continuous series.

(BTW, as an aside while discussing PJ, it's interesting to note that with all the cast changes and turnover over the course of the series, only Edgar Buchanan's Uncle Joe appeared in all 222 episodes -- Linda Kaye Henning ran a close second with 221 episodes...)
 
I'll get this rolling with one of early television's big hits, "Martin
Kane, Private Eye" (NBC, 1949-54). Kane was played by no less than
four actors:

William Gargan (1949-51)
Lloyd Nolan (1951-52)
Lee Tracy (1952-53)
Mark Stevens (1953-54)

Harry Morton on "The George Burns And Gracie Allen Show" was
played by Hal March, John Brown, Fred Clark, and Larry Keating.
 
The role of Christine Cagney on Cagney & Lacey was played by Loretta Swit in the original movie, then by Meg Foster for the first six episodes which were shown as a limited-run mid-season series and then she was replaced by Sharon Gless because CBS thought Meg Foster was was too 'butch' in her portrayal. Of course Loretta Swit was still doing M*A*S*H and couldn't commit to the series. I have an ad for the original movie here: http://vintagetoledotv.squarespace.com/print-ads-cbs/single-gallery/4253994
 
Harry Morton on "The George Burns And Gracie Allen Show" was
played by Hal March, John Brown, Fred Clark, and Larry Keating.
Click to expand...

Didn't Burns have one of those "breaking the fourth wall" moments when Larry Keating replaced Fred Clark? I read somewhere he introduced Keating in the middle of a scene and had him shake hands with Clark, after which Clark walked off and they all continued like nothing had happened.

BTW: Fred Clark had an unusual career after "Burns & Allen". He played Dr. Clyburn, the Beverly Hills physician on "The Beverly Hillbillies" who was always trying to shut Granny's "mountain doctorin" down. He then faked his own death in 1969 and after decades in hiding, he is now familiar to TV viewers as John Scherer, CEO and founder of Video Professor.
 
As I understand it, Bea Benaderet was about to hit Clark with
an iron tool (a fireplace poker, I think) when George entered,
stopped the scene, announced that Clark was leaving to do a
Broadway show, then introduced Larry Keating. He and Bea
shook hands, then George had them do the scene, and it was
Keating who ended up getting hit.
 
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